A’s hire (re-hire) Giambi’s strength coach

Interesting news today: The A’s have named their former strength and conditioning coach, Bob Alejo, to a similar position with the club.

Alejo left the team after the 2001 season to go to New York with former A’s first baseman Jason Giambi, but he left that position when Major League Baseball imposed new rules limiting personal athletic trainers access to clubhouses.

The question is: Does this improve the chances that Giambi will return to Oakland? The A’s are seeking an impact free-agent bat, and Mark Ellis and Eric Chavez have told The Chronicle in recent weeks that they’d welcome the slugger’s return.

Though Alejo is closely connected Giambi, who admitted steroid use in grand jury testimony, Alejo has never been linked in any way to performance enhancing substances. He has spent the past several years working for UC Santa Barbara’s athletic department.

Alejo was well-liked and highly regarded in his first go-round with Oakland, and the A’s are looking to interrupt a string of two injury-filled seasons.